Heel protector for shoes



April 23, 1957 INVENTOR. AXE'L -Wss TIN A TTDHNE'YS.

United States Patent HEEL PROTECTOR FOR SHOES Axel Westin, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to The Westin Process Co., Milwaukee, Wis., a partnership Application July 8, 1955, Serial No. 520,868

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-75) The invention relates to a heel protector for shoes.

Heretofore, inserts and guard plates of metal and other materials have been employed with rubber heels and the like to reduce wear of the rubber. In some instances the cushion efiect of the heel is substantially reduced and in others there has been difficulty in retaining the insert. Metal plates wear down fast and are costly and tend to scratch floors.

The present invention is based upon a concept that greatly simplifies the construction and application of protectors to rubber heels and the like and overcomes much of the objections heretofore encountered.

According to the invention highly polished and hardened wear resistant balls, preferably of stainless steel or the like, are embedded in the lower surface of the heel by press fitting the same into individual holes in the heel.

The invention as applied to a rubber heel blank is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective of the heel showing the lower surface and the protectors;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the heel taken on line A--A of Figure 1 and showing two protectors spaced apart; and

Fig. 3 is a bloated sectional view similar to Fig. 2 with the protectors separate and ready for insertion in the corresponding holes in the heel.

Patented Apr. 23, 1957 In carrying out the invention the rubber heel 1 has one or more holes 2 drilled in the bottom of the heel. The holes 2 should be of a diameter substantially less than the diameter of the balls to be inserted therein. In general, for the ordinary rubber heel, the holes 2 need only be about half the diameter of the balls 3.

The balls 3 are of hardened stainless steel or of similarly hard material that does not corrode and that resist wear.

The balls 3 are merely driven into corresponding holes 2 to a depth that will leave a small surface of each ball protruding from the heel. The resilience of the rubber or similar material of which the heel is made closes the latter in upon the ball so that the ball is retained without release.

The depth of the holes 2 should be a little less than the diameter of the balls so that the latter do not tend to move further into the heel and thereby cease to effectively protect the same from wear.

The smooth round surface of the balls reduces any tendency to scratch floors or injure carpets.

The balls, being spherical, tend to roll in service to present new and fresh wearing surfaces from time to time upon conditions of severe surface friction.

The invention is claimed as follows:

In combination with a heel, a wear protector comprising a hard wear resistant sphere secured by a press fit in a hole in the heel and retained therein solely by the resilience of the material of the heel with a surface of the sphere protruding from a surface of the heel.

References Cited in the file of this patent 9 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,723,375 Rubin Aug. 6, 1929 1,984,989 Reed Dec. 18, 1934 2,124,458 Buckler July 19, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 173,985 Great Britain Ian. 19, 1922 

